Proposed MMA Rules Threaten Small Promoters in West Virginia
by Mike Fagan on Jul 20, 2011 4:40 PM EDT
in MMA News
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When I think of West Virgina, I think of dimly-lit coal mines and the soot-covered faces of stoic, hard-hatted men. I think of Appalachia and this 1971 John Denver folk rock classic. It's an area of the country, in my mind, perpetually stuck 50 years in the past. Fairly or not, it doesn't strike me as a bastion of progressive thinking, and it certainly doesn't strike me as a potential hotbed of prizefighting.
So, I'm not surprised when recent regulation of mixed martial arts has been bogged down by politics.
According to the Charlestown Daily Mail, the state athletic commission is proprosing rules which would require promoters in West Virginia to insure every fighter for $100,000 and put forth a $50,000 bond to stage an event. West Virginia requires boxing promoters insure fighters for $20,000 while posting a $20,000 bond to stage an event.
Delegate Randy Swartzmiller believes this is a backdoor effort on the part of Athletic Commission Chairman Steve Allred to keep MMA out of West Virginia:
"This doesn't surprise me," Swartzmiller said. "Steve Allred has made comments that he would set prices so high promoters couldn't come here.
"He (Allred) doesn't care that the people in the state want this," he said. "He doesn't care that the Legislature passed this and the governor signed this.
"He doesn't care because he doesn't want MMA in the state," he said.
Allred responded with typical polispeak:
Allred said he would not speak about the specific proposed rules until the public comment period ended on July 18.
"I have never publicly commented on any rules for anything until after the public comment period has ended," he said.
But Allred did say he thought accusations that the rules were being drafted to keep small MMA promoters from holding events in the state were "ludicrous" because the legislature had voted to legalize the sport.
Which is the sort of thing you'd expect to hear from someone setting up an obstacle course for promoters of an unwanted sport.
The proposed rules would also mandate that all mixed martial arts bouts take place in a cage.
HT: Fight Lawyer
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I can't call it
1) Things Fall Apart
2) How I Got Over
3) Illadel Halflife (admittedly for nostalgia reasons)
"Sarcastically I'm in charge" - Militant #2
by LRaunThaDamaja on Jul 20, 2011 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Most consistent discography in hip-hop history.
I’d take Illadelph simply because Concerto of the Desperado gets me so hyped.
Ex-sinner, Grammy award winner
Ballin' repeatedly, highlights on Sportscenter
by underrated ground game on Jul 20, 2011 4:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Great but not the most consistent
Nothing beats Eric B & Rakim
Partially agree
but they only had 4 albums.
While I agree Atliens is their best album.
It ain’t too much better than Aquemini, and one could argue Aquemini has aged better than Atliens. Both have about 1 or 2 bad songs between them.
The rest:
Stankonia – 9/10
Speakerboxxx – 9/10
The Love Below – 7/10
by phillyhoosfan on Jul 20, 2011 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions
Because I'm cooler than a polar bear's toenails
I’ll just agree to disagree on the other three.
Aquemini is a good album.
by Jim America on Jul 20, 2011 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Illadelph Halflife
is more than just nostalgia that’s a good album.
Do You Want More? for nostalgia.
By necessity
it’s the same reason my state has very specific laws on claims to roadkill…sad but true.
Reply fail
my iPhone goes crazy when WV is disrespected.
Also
the photo on that cover is from Bed-Stuy.
by Jim America on Jul 20, 2011 10:14 PM EDT up reply actions
All you need to know about W. VA in an hour and a half movie!
My photography blog...check it out and tell me what you think.
Life Through My Lens
“Wanna hear my Wv mating call?” /shakes prescription bottle
CLASSIC
"Sarcastically I'm in charge" - Militant #2
by LRaunThaDamaja on Jul 20, 2011 4:08 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Conveniently this also applies to eastern Kentucky.
"All noble things are as difficult as they are rare."
- Baruch Spinoza
i hear teeth are optional in Kentucky.
by Victor Rodriguez on Jul 20, 2011 4:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Do you know why it’s so hard to get someone for murder in Kentucky?
Because they’re no dental records to speak of and all of the DNA matches.
If you can't wow them with brilliance, then baffle them with bullshit.
by DayGeaux on Jul 20, 2011 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions 9 recs
I stumbled upon that movie by accident one night. It was an hour and a half of WTF. I can’t believe people actually survive being that stupid.
You need to watch "The Dancing Outlaw"
I still need to watch “The Wild and Wonderful Whites”. But Dancing Outlaw chronicles the trials and tribulations of Jesco.
"All noble things are as difficult as they are rare."
- Baruch Spinoza
That dude is a pretty good tap dancer, or whatever he does. But my god he has fried his brain so bad, I am suprised he can hold back bowel movements.
Don't do whippets kids.
They make you threaten to stab your wife over poorly fried eggs:
"All noble things are as difficult as they are rare."
- Baruch Spinoza
One inbred family of dilator methheads does not represent my state
go watch Matewan, preferably while shutting your face.
I'd like to see a state/province try to keep MMA out by making really weird rules instead.
Like all bouts have to take place in a steel cage…shaped like a pyramid. With a police light on top. The corner uninhabited by a fighter will have a monkey in it that knows TKD. “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” MUST be playing any time a bout is taking place for the duration of the contest. And there can only be fights on Saturday night and they must end before midnight because if it goes into Sunday morning than the song won’t make sense any more.
etc. etc. etc.
What everyone needs to do is calm down, take a deep breath, and prepare their bodies for the Thunderdome.
by lowellthehammer on Jul 20, 2011 4:09 PM EDT reply actions
I have a soft spot for ol' WV.
Lived right across the border for a long time. It’s a really “down on its luck” sort of state these days. Beautiful countryside. Some real good people over there. Also some of the biggest nut jobs you’ll ever meet.
Out of curiosity, does the state government have the ability to override Allred? Not sure how that works.
"All noble things are as difficult as they are rare."
- Baruch Spinoza
http://www.espn.co.uk/ufc/sport/story/101685.html
http://unintelligentdefense.blogspot.com
by MattParker117 on Jul 20, 2011 5:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Just found out thanks to Gareth Davis
ESPN UFC Podcast is out on Thursday this week, all the chat on UFC 138 announced in Birmingham for Nov 5,. I’ll be reporting from Las Vegas
http://unintelligentdefense.blogspot.com
by MattParker117 on Jul 20, 2011 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions
This is ridiculous, I don’t even know where to begin. I’ll start with the part that I find most annoying. “It’s an area of the country, in my mind, perpetually stuck 50 years in the past. Fairly or not, it doesn’t strike me as a bastion of progressive thinking,” This is nuts, our state legislature actually legalized MMA in WV. So, some shithead in a position to ruin this chooses to regulate it because he’s stuck on his preconceived notions about MMA (or is a tool for a well known Boxing Promoter here in WV, which is more likely) this makes us, and our state non-progressive hillbillies, while MMA is still illegal in NY without all the social commentary.
Don’t get me wrong, I can handle some good natured stereotype humor, but don’t actually base your opinions about a place on them. I don’t care where you go in the country, there is going to be poverty, which will have a subculture built around it, a subculture that is embarrassing to everyone else. I’m a criminal defense lawyer, I see these hillbilly shitheads every day, and they make me embarrassed to be a West Virginian, but I bet you can think of a segment of your neighborhood that embarrasses you too.
I will agree that there likely isn’t much of a market in WV, I’m happy just watching MMA on TV, so I don’t much care about this argument.
by jcleven1 on Jul 20, 2011 4:49 PM EDT reply actions 8 recs
Well...
…while this situation does largely come down to one individual, I don’t think that was necessarily an unfair thing to assume it’s not the most progressive state in the union…it is, after all, almost totally run by coal companies who happen to be just a little less than progressive to say the absolute least.
by bigstupidsmile on Jul 20, 2011 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Perpetually stuck 50 years in the past is bullshit
Portions of the state might be, but that’s fucking stupid and has no relevance to the story…which is far more interesting than what was reported here. I have a chip on my shoulder, to be sure, but I’m sick of ignorance and Deliverance jokes being the only reaction to my state. Deliverance was set in KY, btw.
Then douchebag McEagles fan intimates WV is a bastion of racism, even though we seceded from VA in 1863. It gets old.
None of this is directed at you.
by Jim America on Jul 20, 2011 10:50 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm amused
What is the connection between “progressive thinking” and cage fighting?
The MMA Encyclopedia. Shooters: Pro Wrestling's Real Life Tough Guys Coming Soon!
by Jonathan Snowden on Jul 20, 2011 4:57 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Probably just because on the surface “Cage Fighting” appears to be barbaric. My own grandparents told me “it’s cruel”. So it takes a not so closed minded person to realize that it is a legitimate sport.
Cage fighting is barbaric and cruel. That’s what makes this post funny.
The MMA Encyclopedia. Shooters: Pro Wrestling's Real Life Tough Guys Coming Soon!
by Jonathan Snowden on Jul 20, 2011 5:38 PM EDT up reply actions
A chance to take a dumbass dig at WV...along with the pic
I guess that’s what happens when everything you know about a state comes from a reality show on Spike.
by Jim America on Jul 20, 2011 10:53 PM EDT up reply actions
I doubt this keeps the Octagon out of West Virginia
I’ll give you odds of 5/1 that a Versus card or Fight Night will be held at the WVU Coliseum in 2012.
http://unintelligentdefense.blogspot.com
I could actually see the UFC promoting a B-card in West Virginia at some point. None of the cities are very large but Charleston and Huntington are the two largest and their fairly close together. There’s enough people living near Charleston that they should be able to draw a decent house for an Ultimate Fight Night, when combined with the lack of entertainment choices in the state (at least too my knowledge). Brian Bowles would be the perfect man to headline any such event, considering he’s from the state and is a Top 5 BW.
It would be suitable as their “reward” event. That is once the commission stops trying to make MMA prohibitive for smaller promotions that is.
There are only two viable arena’s in WV for a UFN the Charleston Civic Center and the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown which one should the UFC go for?
http://unintelligentdefense.blogspot.com
by MattParker117 on Jul 20, 2011 5:33 PM EDT up reply actions
I would say Charleston
gotta deal with the folks that fought tooth and nail to keep beer out of football games if you go to WVU. Plus it’s a wider population base around Charleston.
by Jim America on Jul 20, 2011 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Morgantown hands down.
You’re about 30-45 minutes away from Pittsburgh and during football games in the fall Morgantown is the biggest city in the state by far. Plus the Coliseum is a better venu than the Civic Center.
Also, I’m from Huntington and pretty sure I’ve met only a few coal miners in my life and they were mainly from KY. What a ridiculous stereotype.
Twitter:@BlindDolphin
A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral - Tolstoy
Attention campers. Lunch has been cancelled due to lack of hustle. Deal with it -Tony Perkis
by NaciremaDream on Jul 21, 2011 12:26 AM EDT up reply actions
Forget about the discrepancy between West Virginia MMA regulations and Boxing,
You should see how they [don’t] regulate Toughman events that are widespread in the state. The regulation of these things regarding the safety of the competitors is basically up to the promoter. I’m all for requiring that promoters put up insurance for fighters but the hypocrisy here is kind of sickening.
Minor edit
It’s the Charleston Daily Mail…no “w”. Charles Town, WV, is in the Eastern Panhandle where we would be far more likely to support MMA. Swartzmiller has been a loud voice of reason for MMA in the state for quite some time and is the main reason the legislature finally passed this legislation.
It’s really not fair to blame WV for the actions of Steve Allred. I don’t believe this is how we view other states with shitty commissioners. Now I’m gonna go back up in the comments section and hate on all your insipid ignorance.
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